The Tea Party's Plot Is On The Verge Of Treason

Robert
Reich is one of the nation’s leading experts on work
and the economy, is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy
at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of
California at Berkeley. He has served in three national
administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under
President Bill Clinton.

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Imagine a plot to undermine the government of the United States,
to destroy much of its capacity to do the public’s business, and
to sow distrust among the population.

Imagine further that the plotters infiltrate Congress and state
governments, reshape their districts to give them
disproportionate influence in Washington, and use the media to
spread big lies about the government.

Finally, imagine they not only paralyze the government but are on
the verge of dismantling pieces of it.

Far-fetched? Perhaps. But take a look at what’s been
happening in Washington and many state capitals since Tea Party
fanatics gained effective control of the Republican Party, and
you’d be forgiven if you see parallels.

Tea Party Republicans are crowing about the “sequestration” cuts
beginning today (Friday). “This will be the first significant tea
party victory in that we got what we set out to do in changing
Washington,” says Rep. Tim Huelskamp (Kan.), a Tea Partier who
was first elected in 2010.

Sequestration is only the start. What they set out to do was not
simply change Washington but eviscerate the U.S. government —
“drown it in the bathtub,” in the words of their guru Grover
Norquist – slashing Social Security and Medicare, ending worker
protections we’ve had since the 1930s, eroding civil rights and
voting rights, terminating programs that have helped the poor for
generations, and making it impossible for the government to
invest in our future.

Sequestration grew out of a strategy hatched soon after they took
over the House in 2011, to achieve their goals by holding hostage
the full faith and credit of the United States – notwithstanding
the Constitution’s instruction that the public debt of the United
States “not be questioned.”

To avoid default on the public debt, the White House and House
Republicans agreed to harsh and arbitrary “sequestered” spending
cuts if they couldn’t come up with a more reasonable deal in the
interim. But the Tea Partiers had no intention of agreeing to
anything more reasonable. They knew the only way to dismember the
federal government was through large spending cuts without tax
increases.

Nor do they seem to mind the higher unemployment their strategy
will almost certainly bring about. Sequestration combined with
January’s fiscal cliff deal is expected to slow economic growth
by 1.5 percentage points this year – dangerous for an economy now
crawling at about 2 percent. It will be even worse if the Tea
Partiers refuse to extend the government’s spending
authority, which expires March 27.

A conspiracy theorist might think they welcome more joblessness
because they want Americans to be even more fearful and angry.
Tea Partiers use fear and anger in their war against the
government – blaming the anemic recovery on government deficits
and the government’s size, and selling a poisonous snake-oil of
austerity economics and trickle-down economics as the remedy.

They likewise use the disruption and paralysis they’ve sown in
Washington to persuade Americans government is necessarily
dysfunctional, and politics inherently bad. Their continuing
showdowns and standoffs are, in this sense, part of the
plot.

What is the President’s response? He still wants a so-called
“grand bargain” of “balanced” spending cuts (including cuts in
the projected growth of Social Security and Medicare) combined
with tax increases on the wealthy. So far, though, he has agreed
to a gross imbalance — $1.5 trillion in cuts to Republicans’ $600
billion in tax increases on the rich.

The President apparently believes Republicans are serious about
deficit reduction, when in fact the Tea Partiers now running the
GOP are serious only about dismembering the government.

And he seems to accept that the budget deficit is the largest
economic problem facing the nation, when in reality the largest
problem is continuing high unemployment (some 20 million
Americans unemployed or under-employed), declining real wages,
and widening inequality. Deficit reduction now or in the
near-term will only make these worse.

Besides, the deficit is now down to about 5 percent of GDP –
where it was when Bill Clinton took office. It is projected to
mushroom in later years mainly because healthcare costs are
expected to rise faster than the economy is expected to grow, and
the American population is aging. These trends have little or
nothing to do with government programs. In fact, Medicare is far
more efficient than private health insurance.

I suggest the President forget about a “grand bargain.” In fact,
he should stop talking about the budget deficit and start talking
about jobs and wages, and widening inequality – as he did in the
campaign. And he should give up all hope of making a deal with
the Tea Partiers who now run the Republican Party.

Instead, the President should let the public see the Tea Partiers
for who they are — a small, radical minority intent on
dismantling the government of the United States. As long as they
are allowed to dictate the terms of public debate they will
continue to hold the rest of us hostage to their extremism.